Federal agents held a news conference on Tuesday to create an awareness of counterfeit merchandise this holiday season.

Federal agents held a news conference on Tuesday to create an awareness of counterfeit merchandise this holiday season.

Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel

It might seem like a bargain. It might look pretty. It might even look like the genuine article.

But as the annual holiday shopping frenzy starts this week, federal authorities are warning South Florida consumers to be on the alert for knockoffs and counterfeit products they say are a ripoff and could even be dangerous.

From headphones to cellphones, designer watches, purses, shoes and sneakers, and even power chargers and batteries, agents from Immigration Customs Enforcement and Homeland Securities Investigations on Tuesday showed off dozens of examples of counterfeit items they seized in local raids.

In the past year, agents confiscated more than 750,000 counterfeit items – with an estimated value of $14 million – in more than 350 seizures in the region that stretches from Fort Pierce to Key West. If the items were authentic, they would have been worth more than $80 million, agents said.

Consumers want to stretch their dollars as much as possible, but O'Neill said customers should be cautious about where they buy gifts and use their common sense when making purchases.

"If the deal looks like it's too good to be true, then in all likelihood, it is, in fact, too good to be true," said Gerard O'Neill, the assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Securities Investigations for South Florida. "It is either going to be stolen merchandise or … a knockoff."

Consumers should buy from trusted stores and online merchants, and be wary about buying items sold out of a car trunk, from a pop-up stall, on a street corner or at a flea market, agents said.

Though designer trademark violations are a global problem, agents say, local criminals are peddling the fakes and it's South Florida residents who may feel the repercussions.

Holiday lights, batteries and power charger cords that are not manufactured to U.S. standards can short out or explode, causing physical injuries or house fires. Defective power cords can also damage phones and other electronic devices.

Some of the counterfeit electronic goods, designer purses and watches are manufactured to so closely mimic the genuine item that even agents and experts from the luxury goods companies have to examine them closely, O'Neill said. It's common for manufacturers overseas to try to replicate serial numbers, shades of paint and other design features to try to hoodwink consumers, he said. That's why the price is the best clue for consumers to figure out if they're getting the genuine article, he said.

Many of the fakes contain design flaws, substandard parts and poor workmanship that cause them to break easily or fail to deliver the quality consumers expect, O'Neill said.

"Things are not always as they appear," O'Neill joked as he started to try on what looked like an expensive Rolex watch – until the back of the cheap knockoff watch fell to the floor. "You get what you pay for."

Among the tips agents shared Tuesday: Look out for bad spelling and grammar on packaging. One example on display at the Miami press conference was a cellphone packaged in plastic with a manufacturer's label that said it was a "Gaxaly" phone – a misspelled ripoff of the Samsung Galaxy.

Some of this year's most popular holiday gifts for kids include Beats Headphones, which typically sell for $199 to $250. Agents have seized what they said were pretty convincing replicas that sold for $50 to $75 locally. While the headphones may look like the real thing, the quality of the item does not stand up to normal wear and tear and the speakers blow out before too long, O'Neill said.

Though many consumers know they're buying knockoffs and don't care, agents said they should not assume their counterfeit deal is a victimless crime. The items are often manufactured overseas in sweatshop conditions, sometimes involving child labor, and the proceeds provide financial support to organized crime in the U.S., Russia and China, O'Neill said.

While many genuine designer products are manufactured overseas, O'Neill said, U.S. and international companies that invest large amounts of money to invent, design, promote and sell the authentic goods in the U.S. are being financially harmed by counterfeits — leading to lost jobs here.

"It hurts American jobs by cutting into U.S. profits here, which leads to job losses in our nation, and it hurts people overseas, sometimes children, who are forced to work in substandard conditions for pennies per hour," O'Neill said.

Though consumers who knowingly buy counterfeit items are technically engaging in an illegal act by supporting criminals, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is focused on the big picture, O'Neill said.

Agents carry out raids on local sellers, who can face state charges, but investigators use the information they glean on a local level to track down the distributors, importers, shippers and manufacturers who are making the big money from the crime, he said.

"Everybody wants a good deal," O'Neill said. "But remember, it's not really a deal if it breaks, if it injures you or a loved one, or if it causes a fire in your home."